Our Last Summer
by Summer McCarty-Cullen
Summary: Bella and her sister Alice have been vacationing at Amore island with the Hales and the Cullens every summer since they were born. During the final summer before the gang goes to collage, they try to work out relationhips that are 18 years in the making.
1. Te amo

**A/N Hello lovely readers! This is my favorite story I've written so I hope you like it. Oh and just a reminder, I'm not SM (shocker right?) so I own nothing. No sue please.**

**Bella**

The only thing I could see for what seemed like miles around me was _blue_. Blue ocean. Blue sky. Ugly, ostentatious blue bra strap peeking out from under my sister's tank top.

If I had been the kind of person who believed in omens this may have worried me, but fortunately after 18 years of this same boat ride, I was used to the monotony. It always seemed particularly awful because I knew what was waiting for me on the other side of all the blueness—it was sort of like being stuck in traffic—every minute was equal to 10 while you were waiting.

I had spent all morning in my room packing. I should have finished the night before, but it had been my friend Angela's 18th birthday party and I would be damned if I was going to miss it. The result being that I'd had to figure out everything I'd need for the entire summer while operating on about 2 ½ hours of sleep. So far, I'd already realized I'd forgotten most of the books I'd planned to bring, hair elastics, headphones, and the blue heels that went with the Forth of July dress my mother had insisted I bring. This year's trip was not off to a promising start.

Even though I had been coming to Amore, a small resort island off the coast of Maine, every summer all my life, every year felt like a whole new experience. I was 18 years old, but at this point, I felt much older. We had driven for 6 hours in my parents new shiny black SUV, but the way my dad had been going it might as well have been 6 days. My sister Alice had complained loudly from the seat beside me the whole way, but I ignored her. Patience isn't really her strong suite. I was too engrossed in my own thoughts to be much fun too talk to anyway. Even though she loves the island just as much as I do she still doesn't understand the significance of the car ride up and then the ferry ride that follows it. It's the anticipation that makes it important, the anxiety, the frantic wondering whether the others will be different this year. If they've gotten taller, or tanner, or they're hair has grown, if they've changed over the school year. And it's the terrifying fear that this will be the last summer we spend together. All of us, just like it always has been.

I know they will have. Changed I mean. They always do, just a little bit. I know I must as well, but somehow even though every time we see each other, the morning of the first Saturday in August, it's like no time has past at all and we could be 5, or 12, or 15 and you'd never know the difference because all that matters is we're home.

Now I was sitting on one of the hard, white plastic seats on the tiny ferry. My parents, my sister, and I were the only passengers, which was unsurprising. It was the last boat of the day, and apparently we were the only late arrivals.

My dad had pulled out his laptop and he was working. _Typical_. I didn't say anything though; he would probably take a break when we got there. _Probably_. I was momentarily distracted by how impressive it was that they had Wi-Fi out here.

My mother was just as typically chatting on her blackberry. She's a wedding planner—quite a well known one actually, and from the half of the conversation I could hear it sounded like one of her venues had been double booked and the bride was having a meltdown. My parents—like my friend's parents—had chosen career over family values, and we, as their children, were reaping the rewards.

I hoped my parents would pull it together by the time we got to the beach. They usually do, the Island atmosphere just does something to people. It's like all the rehab, and detox, and meditation, and Vogue's "31 Days to a Better You!" you could have in a lifetime, all rolled into two and a half months every year. It feels like time just stops the second we step off the ferry and onto the dock, and all of a sudden my parents are 25 again, and they're happy, like actually_ happy _which isn't something we tend to see a lot of back home. I think all the parents and grandparents who come here act like that, since for most of them it's _exactly_ like being 25 again because this is the island where they met. At least, it's where my parents met back when my Grandma and Grandpa owned our little white cottage on the beach and brought my dad, and Uncle John and Uncle Andy out here for the summer and my mom was the hostess at the Boat House Café. I don't really know the whole story (thanks to some impressive evasion on the part of my mother), but I know they were married here and in all the wedding photos, behind my mom in her hideously 80's style wedding dress, you can see the lighthouse and the faded blue painted Island sign. I loved to study those pictures when no one was looking.

I suddenly realized Alice was talking to me. She had been keeping up such a constant steam of chatter all day that I had tuned her out, but this sounded like a direct question. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Are you finally gonna' jump Jasper's bones this year?" she hissed. _A directly ridiculous question!_ I sighed. The amazing thing was she actually looked kind of weirdly hopeful. It was hard not to be annoyed with her since I had been asked this question, oh I don't know, about a hundred times.

"God, no! Would you _shut up_!" I turned away and pretended to be checking the time on my phone so I wouldn't have to look at her.

"Fine suite yourself, but one day you're going to explode from all that sexual tension Bells, believe me."

"Just because you have no self control, doesn't mean we all have that problem you know." I muttered. She rolled her eyes.

"You know if it were me, I would have sealed _that _deal years ago. Have you _seen _the body on that boy? I'd like to—"

"I got the picture thanks," I snapped "no need for the illustrated version."

"Girls! Stop that, you're giving me a migraine!" My mother barked across the deck at us, blackberry still plastered to her ear. My sister grumbled, but apparently decided to give me a short break before starting in again.

We were fast approaching the island now and I could see the beach growing rapidly larger. From the dock where the ferry comes in the island looks like a cross between a really nice summer camp and a resort hotel, which is essentially what it is. The main office building is this huge white house with a large wrap around porch and a giant garden in the back. It looks like one of the cottages on steroids. There are all these little tables out on the balconies where people eat and play cards and things. The steps from the porch lead out right onto the beach. On the far right a boardwalk begins that leads all the way around the island. It takes about 4 hours to walk the entire thing. The only other building in sight is the Boat House Café, one of the only six restaurants on the whole island. The other five are more inland with the shops and the residential cottages.

As we came closer I had this overwhelming feeling of joyful anxiety in my stomach. Alice stood up and started pacing back and forth. The vibrations made me bite down hard on my tongue, and I swallowed several sharply worded comments.

My parents simultaneously looked up from their work and stopped all together. I didn't have to look to know we were all sporting identical smiles. I've sometimes thought that if someone could just get a picture of this moment we could have a Christmas card where we looked more like a family then any one of the last 18 photographers has ever made us look _and_ we could save ourselves $800 bucks or so. I'm just saying.

The ferry bumped to a stop beside the dock. I thanked the driver and stepped off the boat and into the shaft of bright sunlight reflecting off the water. The wooden dock looked about 100 years old, but I knew it was really only about 3 years old, and made to look that way. Alice spotted a friend, and screamed something indistinguishable. I rolled my eyes for what felt like the hundredth time, but my parents didn't even flinch at the outburst as they would have back on the main land.

It was the effect of the Island.

I picked up one of the bags from my glossy black luggage set and was fiddling with the strap and tugging on the hem of my artificially faded denim shorts when I heard my mother's voice, soft in my ear

"What are you waiting for Belly?" she said cheerfully, using my nickname—a good sign "They're all already here". My head snapped up, displacing my waist length dark hair. I pushed it roughly back behind my ears and followed my mother's gaze. I could see them now. They were standing together a little ways back from the beach. All four of them, my best friends in the entire world, and they were waiting for me.

Edward was the closest, his perfect bronze hair gleaming in the sun. We used to make fun of that hair. It had been impossible to control when we were younger, cowlicks flying everywhere. It made you want to eat your tongue seeing him now. He was taller, if that were possible, and grinning madly at me and waving in these huge, whole arm motions. I grinned too. Edward was probably one of the most genuinely nice people you could ever meet, which is particularly amazing if you know his parents. I do, and they're pretty much like all the rest of our parents – whip smart, over achiever, corporate sellout types with big bank accounts and bigger egos – only they're worse. I sometimes think about Edward during the school year and I want to cry, but I don't because I don't really like to do the whole public displays' of emotion thing.

Right next to Edward, leaning up against the post of the same old faded blue Island sign from my parents wedding pictures, was his brother Emmet. Looking ridiculous has he had a good 5 inches on that sign. I thought of Emmet as my own brother, more then any of the others. I rolled my eyes when I saw who he was talking to. It was my best (and only female) friend Rosalie. _There's a surprise _I thought ruefully. Everyone had been waiting for Em and Rose to finally get it on since puberty. Well, maybe this would be the year.

Rosalie giggled loudly enough for me to hear from 100 yards away and reached behind a still waving Edward and tugged playfully on a bare tan arm. My stomach did a back flip as a shirtless, gorgeous, and very familiar boy was pulled into view.

Jasper.

He looked exactly the same, but better somehow. His blonde hair was maybe a little longer and fell into his blue eyes in a way that looked effortless, but I knew probably took a whole team of New York stylists hours to achieve. It looked from here like he had forgotten to shave that morning, but it worked for him and navy blue Abercrombie bathing suit he was wearing made him look more like a still shot from a movie then anyone deserved to. He raised a hand lazily and, smirking, beckoned one finger for me to join them. Oh course, that was all I needed. I dropped my bag with a clunk. It landed right on my father's foot, but he just laughed and gave me a little push, and so I kicked off my sandals and took off running.

I ran down the dock, across the burning sand, and straight into Edward. I pressed my face into his chest, and hugged him tightly. He smelled like sandalwood oil and Axe body wash. He lifted me clean off the ground and spun in a little circle. "What took you so long?" he shouted even though I was right there "we've been waiting for _hours_." I swear Edward has the attention span of a toddler; he can't wait for five minutes without needing to be somewhere else. This made him a brilliant athlete, but an unbearable traveling companion. Trust me, I know.

"Put me down!" I shrieked laughing. He did, but reluctantly and I grinned up at him to show I wasn't actually mad.

"Stop monopolizing Bella asshole, and give someone else a chance!" said Emmet loudly from somewhere behind me, he was trying and failing to sound angry. He gave me a cheerful one armed hug and grinned. I didn't even get the chance to say anything, because obviously Rosalie was feeling left out

"Um hello, remember me?" she said sarcastically

"Hi Girlie!" I hugged her and we both jumped up and down shrieking and laughing.

"God, my ears!" complained Emmet. We both shot him exasperated looks and continued

"How are you?" I asked breathlessly

"Fantastic!"

"You look –"

"Blonde?"

"Perfect. As usual" I was secretly a little jealous.

"Thanks Hon! And you look _amazing_!"

"Oh, please" I blushed and glanced involuntarily in Jasper's direction, then silently cursed myself for it. He wasn't even looking at us; he was staring in the opposite direction at some girls in bikinis.

"No really, look how thin you are!"

"Well look at _your_ legs, they go for like miles!"

"Look at _your_ boobs! They're –"

Edward coughed loudly. "So you guys want to get out of here?" he interrupted pointedly "go back to my house? Catch up?" I shot him a grateful glance.

"Um, yeah let's go, lemme' just grab my bags and drop them at our cottage 'kay?"

"Unnecessary." said Jasper, looking me right in the eye and speaking for the first time "You're parents already took them." I spun around to check. He was right of course. I blushed again as he looked at me.

"Great!" said Emmet clapping his hands together "shall we?" he smiled and offered his arm to Rosalie. She giggled and they headed off down the beach towards Edward's parents' house. Edward ran right past them, he was obviously showing off.

"Race you to the porch Bella!" he shouted back at me, making a megaphone with his hands.

"No fair, you had a head start!"

"Then get your tiny ass over here and give me some real competition!" I laughed. It was like ever since I got off the ferry I couldn't stop. He was already running again. _Cheater _I thought. I started to follow, but then I felt a warm hand on the small of my back. I froze.

"So, how've you been Belly?" Jasper asked, blinding me with this perfect, cocky smile. I winced at hearing him use the nickname reserved for use only by my parents and over-friendly relatives. Unfortunately, when he said it in his still slightly southern accent, it was sexy as opposed to condescending. Even though he and Rose were twins, she had worked for years to lose her accent. Jazz hadn't. He was standing close enough that it felt awkward to turn around completely, but I kind of had to in order to answer him. This, of course, I realized was the point. One of Jasper's many talents was making me uncomfortable.

"Do you care?" I snapped spitefully.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"You didn't even say 'Hi' to me"

"Hi." He said leaning closer so our faces were only a few inches apart. His smile never faltered.

"Hi." I breathed. My voice sounded uneven. It was his turn to laugh. The sound didn't do anything for my brain function, I felt like my I.Q. had suddenly dropped 40 points. I shouldn't have been acting so awkward—we were best friends after all—I could only hope that it was due to the fact that I hadn't seen him all winter. I prayed I would gain some composure over the next few days.

I had been in love with Jasper Hale my whole life. Jasper's Father, Peter, was my dad's best friend. They had been roommates all the way from 6th grade at boarding school in Switzerland through their Collage years, and of course Peter's family had a house on the island too. My mom always says that if Peter Hale could have fit in the dress, my dad would have married his best man instead. To be honest, judging from the current state of both their marriages that may have been a better plan. So I guess it just made sense that when my parents had me just a few months after Peter and his wife Maria had theirson, the two of us would have to be friends.

The summer that I was 5 and Jasper was 6 was the first time I realized I loved him. We were all playing some stupid kids game and Emmet and Edward dared me to climb out my bedroom window and onto the roof of my cottage. I think I must have just been glad to be part of the game because I stood up on my bed to get to the window and crawled outside. I was wearing the uniform of my childhood: a pink patterned pinafore dress with white patent leather Mary Jane's, not exactly prime exploration attire. I turned around and looked back through the window at them. Emmet looked like a diabolical mastermind, gleeful that his plan was being executed. Edward seemed to be having a heart attack. I guess he was afraid I would fall, or maybe that someone would see me out there and we would get in trouble. I glanced triumphantly at Jasper, hoping for some admiration for being so brave, but he just looked faintly curious. I shouldn't have been surprised, it was always like that. Back then, the three boys were like this exclusive little group and anyone else was just lucky to be included. Jasper was the leader, Edward and Emmet were his co-conspirators, but plainly had no actual say in what was going on. They used to worship him. I think they still do actually, even if they don't realize they're doing it. The funny thing is, Emmet is the brains behind the whole operation, but then he checks to make sure Jasper agrees with whatever he's come up with. And Edward just stands there and watches. He's too nice to come up with anything on his own, but he still likes to be part of the group. Oh course, I'd never actually tell them any of this. The world has a natural order, and as long as they're happy, I'm happy.

I was perched out there on the roof waiting for approval when it happened. My foot slipped on one of the weather-beaten shingles and I started to fall. I've actually been out on that roof since then. The five of us still like to sit out there and watch the end of the summer fireworks. It's not very slanted so I probably wouldn't have actually fallen off, but I remember thinking I was going to die, and then I felt a strong little hand grab my arm and all of a sudden Jasper had pulled me back inside and I was sprawled face-down on my bed. When I looked up he was standing right where he had been before and looking away from me, like it had never happened. But it had.

He said something and I shook myself back into the present. "What?" it sounded harsher then I had intended. I was annoyed.

"I said" I noticed he was still smiling infuriatingly "Edward's gonna' kick your ass if you keep standing here"

"That's not what you said" I was confused, I hadn't really been listening, but I was sure of it.

"No, but it's true." And he ran off in the direction the others had gone. I could have killed him, but I would have to catch him first.

X X X X X

By the time I got to Edward's house everyone else was already inside. I had never been much of the athletic type—my less then stellar hand-eye coordination and clumsiness made any team spots impossible—and my bare feet weren't exactly ideal for running. For the second time that hour I envied Rosalie, but this time only because she had been wearing Converse.

I trudged up the steps and onto the porch. Edward's cottage looked identical to mine except that it was gray, not white. All the cottages out here were built in the 40's by the same crew. Even the landscaping is about the same. They're bungalow style, 4 bedroom, 3 bath, square houses with uniform wrap around porches and tall windows. We call them 'cottages' but I think by anyone standards they're probably pretty good sized houses. They were bigger then some of the houses in my neighborhood at home.

I went passed the front door and around the porch to the glass paned French doors that open onto the living room. Edward's living room had this perfect beachy feel. All the furniture was white and the surrounding décor was a perfect ocean blue. There were huge ocean-scape paintings hanging on either side of the electric fireplace and giant shells displayed across the mantelpiece. The only thing out of place was the huge plasma flat screen TV, in front of which he and Emmet and Rose were already situated on the huge white couch playing Xbox. I didn't recognize the game, something with guns and a lot of shooting.

Jasper was sitting in the shrunken white love seat, talking quietly to…Alice? Who was settled on the arm with her legs dangling down into his lap. How had Alice beaten me here? Sometimes her sixth sense was a little creepy. I noticed with some satisfaction that she seemed to be talking _at_ him and he was only occasionally answering out of necessity. I felt guilty for being glad, so I looked away as I came through the doors and stood in the middle of the room. "So look who finally decided to show up" Emmet sing-songed from the couch without taking his eyes off the game.

"Yeah Bella, you get lost or something?" asked Edward. He looked up at me with something like genuine worry just as Emmet shot a missile into his little army of soldiers.

"HaHa, take THATjackass!" Emmet jumped up off the couch triumphantly. We ignored him.

"Shut up. No shoes, see?" I lifted my bare foot in the air to make a point. Edward put down his controller, reached out, and pulled me down onto his lap. He put his arms around my stomach the way he always did and I leaned back into him. This wasn't unusual; we often sat this way, which is why it seemed so strange when I caught Rosalie glairing at me. _What? _I wanted to scream. I contented myself with staring back questioningly.

"Ohmigod! We just_ have_ to talk, I have SO" she stretched it to sound like three syllables "much to tell you!"

"Um yeah, later ok?" I said weakly. I was still too confused to exert the appropriate level of enthusiasm.

"Sure whatever, we'll have time tonight!" I realized suddenly that she was right. Rosalie almost never slept at her own parents' house. She and Alice and I always shared my huge pink king sized bed, and talked until morning.

"Hey, are we invited to your little slumber party this year" asked Jasper, he was looking right at me again and smirking.

"Ooh great idea man, maybe they'll have a pillow fight" Emmet mused wickedly.

"You wish perve!" I shouted at the exact same time as Rosalie threw a pillow at him and Edward punched his arm.

"Hey dude, that's my sister." Jasper said reproachfully to Emmet. He was probably wishing he hadn't brought it up at all.

"Hey! Truce!" Emmet laughed as he tried to shield himself from any further abuse. Edward, apparently returning to his usual non-violent self, put his arms back around me. I noticed that they were just as muscled as Jasper's now and almost as tan. All of a sudden I was uncomfortable and I had no idea why. I had to physically shake my head a few times to bring myself back to the present. I looked up and caught Jasper's eye across the room. Alice was still sitting on the arm of his chair. They weren't talking anymore but I noticed one of her feet moving slowly up and down the length of his shin. Apparently he _hadn't_ noticed or (hopefully) didn't care because he was watching me, and for once in his life, he looked about as confused as I felt.

**Jasper**

I thought I could see the ferry far in the distance, behind all that _blueness_. _This had to be the one right? _They had to be on this one, it was the last boat of the day. They wouldn't miss the first night. _Would they? _Bella hadn't told me they'd be late. Although, come to think about it, I hadn't talked to her in two—maybe three months. Wow, that felt strange. _When had things gotten so crazy that I forgot to call my best friend? When had Bella stopped calling me?_

"Calm down dude, you're going to dig a trench in the sand if you keep pacing like that." Emmet clapped me on the shoulder.

"Shut up man." I shrugged off his hand violently. Edward seemed even more anxious then I was. He was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet and swinging his arms wildly. Rosalie—predictably—was practically drooling at Emmet.

"Hey look!" Edward shouted suddenly "That's them right?" My neck cricked when I snapped my head up to see what he was pointing at.

"I don't know it's really far away." Rose said

"No, it is! That's Bella in the front see?" Edward persisted.

"No, that's Alice." I corrected. They all turned to stare at my blankly. _Isn't it obvious?_

"And you can tell from here how?" Rosalie sneered at me unattractively.

"The hair. Alice's is short." I pointed out.

"Oh, hey he's right." Edward agreed

"Whatever guys, does it matter? They'll be here in a minute anyway, chill out." Rosalie snapped.

Edward pushed in front of me when the ferry bounced up against the dock and I let him. I didn't want to seem too eager. Alice came rushing past us the second the boat stopped (She'd probably show up later when we least expected it), but Bella was taking her sweet time about it. She looked…_different. Is it totally wrong to say hot?—In a 'known you my entire life, platonic, sisterly' kind of way. I did not just think that. _She was messing with her bags or something. Her mom came up behind her a said something. She smiled, so it couldn't have been that bad. Renee was sometimes…harsh.

Finally, Bella ran up the beach towards us and straight into…Edward. _What the hell?_

"What took you so long?" he shouted _way _too loudly. "We've been waiting for _hours_." _Pffft. Maybe _he'd _been waiting for hours, the dude sounded whipped._

"Put me down!" She screamed. _Ha! What no, I don't think she really meant it—what the hell!_

"Stop monopolizing Bella asshole, and give someone else a chance!" said Emmet. _Exactly _I thought smugly.

Rosalie got to her next before I could say anything. Obviously she was too distracted to even say 'hi' to me. Not that I cared.

Bella glanced at me and I quickly looked away, focusing on some girls I'd met last summer. _Holly and...Jenny? Ginny? Gina? What was that girls name again? _I could feel her watching me. I wondered why she hadn't said anything. _Well if she's not talking to me, then I'm definitely not going to say anything. I don't__** need**_ _her to talk to me..._I was glad when I heard Edward suggest we get off the beach.

"Um, yeah let's go, lemme' just grab my bags and drop them at our cottage 'kay?" Bella said.

"Unnecessary." I looked at her _Damn! I talked first._ _Get some self control man_. "You're parents already took them." I realized I had no idea when I'd noticed that. She spun around to check and she blushed, maybe because she hadn't known?

Emmet headed off with Rosalie. I wondered if he'd decided he liked her. _Again. _I guess I could understand that—she was totally hot, but in sort of an unoriginal kind of way, and obviously really unnatural…not my type. _Not that she hadn't tried…_

Edward sprinted past them. He was showing off. I could've beaten him, I thought idly. Not that I needed to prove it.

"Race you to the porch Bells!" he shouted.

"No fair, you had a head start!" she laughed.

"Then get your ass over here and give me some real competition!" She laughed again. She started to follow him. _No, wait! _I thought, and then: _Get a hold of yourself man! Why should you care? _I reached out involuntarily and hoped she'd stop. She did. _Crap! Say something!_

"So, how've you been Belly?" I asked. Then I remembered she hated to be called that. 10 seconds and I'd already provoked her without even meaning to. I grinned; _See? This is too easy._

"Do you care?" She snapped angrily. _What?_

"Why shouldn't I?" I was confused, and I hated to be at a disadvantage.

"You didn't even say 'Hi' to me." She said. _What! _I realized she'd been thinking the same thing I had and for some reason I liked that idea.

"Hi." I said. I leaned closer just to add an extra level of discomfort. She wasn't big on close proximity and I liked getting under her skin. Basically our entire friendship was based off of me annoying her.

"Hi." She sounded nervous. I laughed. _So it was working…_Her eyes suddenly unfocused. _What was she thinking about? _I thought. _Should I step back? Why was _I_ nervous now? God! Get your head in the game man! Stop being such a pussy! _

"Edward seemed happy to see you. I thought he was going to dig a trench in the sand he was pacing so much waiting for you." I grinned, but silently kicked myself. _Why'd I say that?_

"What?" she sounded mad. _Damn! What now?_

"I said" I fished around for something else "Edward's gonna' kick your ass if you keep standing here" _Much better…sounds indifferent._

"That's not what you said" she looked confused. _Good._

"No, but it's true." I had to get out of there before I lost all control of the situation. I ran after the others, leaving her hopefully dazed.

It didn't take me long to get to Edward's house. I was a pretty fast runner, and basically working off adrenaline at this point anyway. I didn't immediately see anyone when I walked through the front door and into the kitchen. "Hey, where are you?" I yelled at anyone who could hear me.

"Livingroom!" Rosalie yelled back from…well, from the living room I guess.

The guys were already playing a video game. Usually I would've joined in, but I wasn't really in the mood.

"Where's Bella?" Rosalie asked when no one followed me into the room.

"Yeah man," said Emmet "What'd you do now?" I shot him a 'one more word and I knock you out' kind of look. I didn't need to be told that she was my responsibility, _she wasn't!_

"Nothing, she's right behind me" I lied. Bells was probably still on the beach.

I sat down in a huge white arm chair. _Perfect _I thought. A chair meant a seat all to myself. That is until someone came out of no where and hopped onto the arm of my chair.

"Hey Jazz!" The tiny person yelled.

"Oh, Hey Ali. How's it going?" I gave her a quick hug and then tried to listen as she chattered away. Even though there was only a year between them, Alice and Bella couldn't have been more different.

After a few minutes Bells still hadn't shown up. She _was_ pretty clumsy; maybe she'd twisted her ankle or something. I was considering texting her—nothing to make it sound like I was worried, just like something to make her hurry up when _Holy Mother of fu—! _ What was she _doing! _Ali had suddenly gotten much closer then I was used to her being. Of course, _this _would be the moment that Bella finally turns up. Right as Ali's rubbing her foot along my leg. _Great._ I wasn't really sure why I cared if Bells saw us though—something to think about later.

. "So look who finally decided to show up" Emmet teased her.

"Yeah Bells, you get lost or something?" asked Edward. He sounded really worried. _Oh for the love of—' She's a big girl, I'm sure she can walk a quarter mile on her own._

"HaHa, take THATjackass!" Emmet yelled. I ignored all of them. _Especially _Alice, although she was making it hard. Hey, I'm a guy okay? Even if I don't like her, having a hot girl stroking your leg is pretty hard to overlook.

"Shut up. No shoes, see?" Bella said. Then—unsurprisingly—Edward grabbed waist and pulled her on to his lap. _Dude! Come on! _Did he really have to go there? She'd been here less then five minutes and he was already trying to stake a claim. I wished he'd stop looking at her like that—like she was freaking Megan Fox or something. I mean yeah, I knew Edward had a thing for Bells, but did he have to grope her like right in front of me?

_Woah there! What was it I just thought? Right in front of _me_…huh?_

I looked up and my eyes met hers. My stomach nearly dropped out of my body. _Shit. This was definitely not good._

**Review Please!!! Give me a reason to keep going! Don't you want to know what Alice is up too? I promise, it's not what it seems….**


	2. Ich liebe dich

**A/N So I know this is the second chapter I've uploaded today, but I have the flu so I've had nothing to do but play with Jazz and Bella! Thank you to my first three reviews ****and also to all the people who favorited, I love the love! But I'd really like some more reviews to keep this going! So to all several hundred of you who read but didn't review, let's get on that k?**

**Side note: I feel like it's nice to promote other writers, so I'll say that right now I'm reading ****Darlin'**** by ****RemyKilday ****and ****The Girl Under The Bed**** by ****Nostalgicmiss.**** Go check them out!**

**Bella**

Alice and I politely ducked the boy's invitation to hang out—by which they meant going to some random party, or at the very least getting drunk and playing Xbox—and spent the evening essentially reenacting a cheesy sleepover movie. Rosalie, who truly was the female counterpart of Jasper (Or was maybe just hoping to get into Emmet's pants) had decided to stay with the boys, and announced she'd come by our house later.

I wore a flimsy purple camisole and matching boxer shorts and was sitting cross-legged on my plush, baby pink area rug while my sister brushed my hair.

"Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you? 'Been here all along so why can't you see-e-e?" I sang loudly as Taylor Swift's voice filled my room. "You belong with Me-e-e!"

"You're terrible." Alice laughed

"Maybe, but I'm better then you and you know it." Alice started to twist my hair into two long French braids. She was slightly obsessed with my hair )as it was exactly what her's would look like if she had the patience to grow it out) and liked to play with it. A little wavy dark strand landed on my face and I blew it out of my eyes exasperatedly.

We were being way to loud considering how late it was, but our parents were still out with Jasper and Rose's parents doing God knows what so our volume wasn't really an issue. At this point it was late enough that we had decided to just pull an all-nighter.

Earlier we had stopped for dinner at the Boat House Café; the very same restaurant that our mother had been the hostess at 20 years ago. The name was supposed to be ironic; it was actually the nicest restaurant on the island. The wait staff was used to serving the over privileged children of vacationing business men, and had a reputation for having no problem serving alcohol to minors. Especially is those minors had no problem paying the $400 bill, plus tipping 25% for their trouble. I had never tested that rumor first hand, but I'd seen enough drunken teenagers stumbling home after dinner growing up to believe it.

We were silent for a good minute listening to the song. "So, looks like you noticed how hot Edward's looking this year." Alice said finally. I groaned. We'd already covered fashion, celebrity gossip, all of Rosalie's winter hookups, and the newest Twilight movie. I had been ducking the subject of the boys all evening and it was bound to happen eventually.

"Well apparently _you_ have because he looks exactly the same to me." It was a lie. I had noticed, but that didn't mean anything. I thought Dr. House was hot too, it didn't mean I wanted to _do_ anything about it.

"Oh, cut the crap Bella! You've been all over him since you got here." She threw her hands in the air exasperatedly.

"I have not!" I was seriously confused; as far as I was aware I hadn't been doing anything we hadn't done every other summer since puberty.

"Well then are you trying to make Jasper jealous?" Alice pressed. Thank god I had my back to her and she couldn't see my blushing.

"God no! Why would I do that?" I was serious too, that had never even occurred to me, _not_ that it would have worked if it had.

"Be serious! I know you've liked him forever" Alice said.

"I have not." I said again

"You're such a liar. I mean really Bells, so the boy's gorgeous, big deal, it's never gonna' happen" I squirmed uncomfortably. My foot suddenly felt warm. It was an unfortunate thing that happened when I was anxious or uncomfortable. Some people's palms sweat, my left foot gets warm. I had been told it was normal; sometimes your body sends signals to your limbs in the face of discomfort, usually on only one side; but it was still annoying.

"I don't even –"

"So are you over Jasper then?" Alice cut me off "'Cause all I'm saying is if you're going after Edward now I'd like some warning." Suddenly she tugged on my hair. Hard.

"Damn! What the hell was that?" I screamed, clapping my hand to my head.

"Sorry, my finger was stuck."

"It's okay" I muttered. At least the subject seemed to be closed

**Alice**

The first night on the island Bella and I decided to skip hanging out with the guys and have some sister time. _Thank God_! I silently amended. I wasn't sure I could handle another hour of Emmet's dirty jokes, Edward's puppy love, and The dysfunctional twins, Jasper and Bella pretending there wasn't anything going on. Those two were like the anti Ross and Rachel.

It had been a really frustrating day for me. I had looked forward to coming back to the island all year. I had romantic notions about living out one of my teen romance novels, and if that was ever going to happen it was definitely going to be on an island called Amore. But unfortunately, it didn't look like that was in the cards for me. No, _that _girl had always been Bella, not that she was aware or intended to do anything about it. It was frustrating as hell to listen to my sister complain about how she'd never had a boyfriend because no one liked her. _No sweetie, you've never had a boyfriend because you're too dense to see it when someone's into you, and thus you're holding out for a fairytale relationship that's never gonna happen. _I wasn't jealous. Not by any means. It was hard to explain even to myself. I guess it was more like it just didn't seem fair that she got so much attention and I knew she didn't even notice. I loved Bella. She was my best friend as well as my sister, but she was also a tease and no one but me seemed bothered by it.

I clearly had some self esteem and bitterness issues and I knew that, but just because I was thinking this stuff didn't mean I was going to let it spill into my real life. Actually, I would like nothing more then for Bella and Jasper to finally pull themselves together and work things out. It would make all of our lives easier to not have watch the train wreck that was their friendship blow up before our eyes.

This was where my plan came in. I knew how to play guys for my own benefit, so I figured that it would be simple to play those two against each other. Hopefully, by August they would either finally get it on, or "breakup", but at least _something _would happen. It obviously wasn't working for her to pine after him while he man-whored around with every other girl on the island all the while pretending they were _best friends._

The first thing was to find someone to help. Edward was out because he was apparently still harboring some sort of crush on Bella. Rosalie wasn't even remotely capable of keeping a secret for any length of time, but even if either of them had been up for it my natural choice of a partner in crime would have been Emmet. The boy was diabolical, and I knew he liked Rose, so as far as I could tell there was no conflict of interest. I'd talked to him while we walked to the Boat House earlier.

"_Great!" said Emmet clapping his hands together "shall we?" he smiled and offered me his arm which I gladly took. We started walking down the beach towards the path through the woods that lead away from Edward's house. Edward himself ran right past us, yelling to Bells as he went._

"_Oh, poor Edward." I said to Emmet pretending to pout "Could you feel that tension in the living room? God!"_

"_Are you kidding? Poor Edward?" Emmet chuckled "More like poor Jasper!" _

"_What do you mean?"_

"_That dudes setting himself up for a world of pain with Bells, those two are like Ross and Rachel on crack!"_

"_I know right!" I exclaimed "I thought I was the only one who—wait, you watch Friends?" He glanced at me exasperatedly._

"_Not the point Ali. I just wish those two would get their shit together before it splatters on the rest of us you know?"_

"_Totally. We should really try and push them in the right direction."_

"_What did you have in mind?" he grinned wickedly._

"_I don't know, I just thought maybe if we could get Jasper to realize he wants her, and Bella to quit thinking she's not good enough and there's no way he could ever like her…"_

"_And how do you propose we do that?"_

"_Well, maybe you could talk about her and see what he does and I'll do the same with Bella."_

"_Ali, guys don't really do that. We're not going to braid our hair and talk about feelings." He rolled his eyes._

"_No, not like that, I mean talk __**about**__her, see if he gets jealous."_

"_I like the way you think." He laughed "Oh! You know what you should do? You should hang all over Jasper and see if she cares or he stops you."_

"_I don't know, that could backfire…" _

"_Well don't be obvious about it. Trust me, I think jealousy is what's going to work best."_

"_So you're going to help me then?" I asked._

"_Yeah, I'm totally in." _

So that was how I'd found myself sitting on Jasper's chair, rubbing up against his leg. I thought maybe I'd seen a reaction from _him_ at least. Edward had been unknowingly brilliant pulling her on to his lap. Jasper definitely noticed that.

Now, I was sitting in Bella's very pick bedroom braiding her hair. I laughed a little at the irony of what Emmet had said earlier. We were _literally_ braiding our hair and talking about feelings. I suddenly had an idea. "So, looks like you noticed how hot Edward's looking this year." I said. I could almost see the cogs in her brain working to try and figure out what I was talking about.

"Well apparently _you_ have because he looks exactly the same to me." She finally said. Oops, maybe it did sound like that's what I meant. _Well I guess as long as she thinks I like him anyway…_

"Oh, cut the crap Bella! You've been all over him since you got here."

"I have not!"

"Well then are you trying to make Jasper jealous?" There. Now I've given her the idea. That's all I'd wanted to do.

"God no! Why would I do that?"

"Be serious! I know you've liked him forever"

"I have not." She snapped

"You're such a liar. I mean really Bella, so the boy's gorgeous, big deal, it's never gonna' happen" I squirmed uncomfortably. I didn't mean that, I was just hoping she'd get defensive and admit that they _could_ be together.

"I don't even –"

"So are you over Jasper then?" I cut her off, and then just for the sake of the ruse added: "'Cause all I'm saying is if you're going after Edward now I'd like some warning."

I hoped this plan wasn't going to backfire.

**Jasper**

"Well I could see, you home with me, but you were with another man, yea!"

_What the fuh—! You've got to be kidding me._

"I know we, ain't got much to say, before I let you get away, yea! I said, are you gonna be my girl?"

"Arrrgggg!" I groaned into my pillow. "Shut up!" I wasn't ready to get up yet. My head was already pounding and I feel like I was going to puke.

"Well I could see, you home with me, but you were with another man, yea!"

"Emmet man!" Edward's voice barked. "Pick up your damn phone!"

"And then change your ringtone" I added grumpily.

"Okay I'm going, God!" Emmet moaned.

"I said, are you gonna be my g—"

"Hello?" Emmet said groggily. "Hey. Nouhthing, jus' woke up." He slurred slightly "'S no problem." He paused. "No, I'm just tired." I hated only being able to hear one side of the conversation, even if I wasn't even sure I could lift my head just yet. "Fine. See you in like…thirty? Kay, bye." he slammed his phone shut.

"Who was that?" I asked, sounding hung-over _and _bored even to my own ears.

"Bella. She and Alice and Rose want to meet at The Coop." _Ugg _I thought _that means getting up. _I forced myself of the bed and stumbled on my way to the bathroom.

My mouth tasted fuzzy—like a truck stop. I rinsed it out under the faucet and popped a piece of gum to be safe. My slightly too long hair was sticking up in every direction. I tried to comb it out with my fingers.

"You need some hairspray man?" Emmet asked from behind me. "I bet your sister has got a headband or some bows you can borrow." He cackled at his own joke.

"Screw you dude." I punched his shoulder a little harder then I'd meant to and grinned when he complained.

"Play nice ladies." Edward yelled from my bedroom. I rolled my eyes and stalked reluctantly back into the bedroom.

My room was huge. Like the size of a middle class living room. It was also freakishly clean for a guy's room (judging by Edward and Emmet's which were disgusting), but that was probably because I kept barely any stuff in there. Apart from the furniture and the navy blue bed and rug or whatever (chosen by my mom who's only passion in life is coordinating furniture) the only personal crap in here were my clothes, my guitar, and a random football or two. In fact, if it weren't for the framed pictures on the wall above my bed (again, chosen and hung by my mom) you wouldn't have any way of knowing who lived in here. The first was of my family; my parents and Rose and I on vacation in Bermuda. The second was taken by Bella last summer and showed Edward and I carrying our surfboards while Emmet gave Alice a piggyback ride in the background. And the third was me and Bells when we were about 11 or 12. We were in the backyard of her house obviously laughing while holding on for dear life to a wildly swinging tire swing. For whatever reason, that was the only picture where I was smiling.

"Dude what are you doing? We gotta meet the girls, let's go!" Edward groaned from the doorway.

"Fine, sorry I'm coming." I said, pinching the bridge of my nose while trying to focus on anything but my pounding skull.

"God, I should really get some different pictures." I mused aloud.

"Whatever man. Do whatever you want." Edward said lazily.

**Bella**

The next morning Alice, Rose and I got dressed and went to meet the guys at Coop de Villa for breakfast. I called Emmet to ask them to meet us and immediately knew that I had been right; they had been drinking. Probably all night. I didn't even want to think about the girls who had probably replaced the girls and me at whatever party they had gone to, while we had been watching _The Breakfast Club _and eating Oreos with peanut butter.

I rolled out of bed, ignoring Alice who was still asleep and grabbed the first clothes I saw—jean shorts and a shrunken white Yankees t-shirt—and went downstairs and made a pot of coffee and poured three bowl sized mugs. Apparently my parents weren't up yet, so I filled the pot with water again and changed the filter and everything so all they would have to do was hit start. I went back upstairs with the bowls of coffee and Ali was coming out of the bathroom looking really slutty in this super low-cut tank top and really tiny shorts. I was already annoyed and she wasn't helping matters any. I shoved a bowl at her and stomped back into my room.

We got to the restaurant before the guys did, which was amazing because we were half an hour late. We ordered another whole pot of coffee for us and some V8 juice and three different types of pancakes for them. I'm not sure what it is about pancakes, they must like soak up the alcohol or something. We were pros at this, taking care of them when they were hung-over. It wasn't something every 18 year old girl aspires to be good at, but it had kind of become necessary in the last few years what with everything we had been through.

About 20 minutes later, the little bell on the door sounded and they wobbled in. Their hair was disheveled and all three were sporting huge aviator sunglasses. I laughed as the hostess tried to greet them and both Emmet and Edward groaned and covered their ears. Jasper waved a hand at her and she immediately felt silent. How did he _do_ that? They wended their way between the 50's diner style tables with minimal difficulty, and finally spotting us, sat down at the booth. Emmet threw himself down next to Rose and put his head on her shoulder. "Arrrrgggg" he groaned "I feel like shit"

"I know sweetie" she cooed stroking his hair "we ordered you some chocolate-chip pancakes to make it all better." It was times like this that I thought Rose might actually make a good mother someday. Jasper sat down next to me and collapsed onto the table.

"Drinking is bad." I heard Edward state as he sat down as well. "Let's never drink again."

"Nah man" Jasper mumbled into the table "then we'd never be drunk again." I short him a disapproving glance, which he missed.

"Not worth it" said Edward.

"_So_ worth it" moaned Emmet. Fortunately, then the pancakes came and put an end to the conversation.

We didn't really talk about anything else for the next hour. Alice, Rose and I took turns force feeding the boys Pancakes and V8, while all the while downing cup after cup of coffee ourselves. At one point Emmet got up and vomited in the men's room. He came back looking a lot better. The waitresses were all watching us bemusedly. This wasn't exactly odd behavior in this place, and they were used to us, the same way the staff at The Boat House abetted the whole thing in the first place. It was a wonder they weren't all arrested. Hell, it was a wonder _we_ weren't all arrested. But then again, this _was_ the island. Every waitress between the ages of 16 and 30 had something of a crush on one or more of the boys and lived for the days they could waft around bringing us unnecessary condiments and looking daggers at the girls and me.

After about an hour and a half, yet another pot of coffee, and several circular conversations about what exactly was in V8 juice, all 5 of us were pretty near fully functional. Years of practice had prepared us to run the New York Marathon hung-over if necessary. Edward threw down a couple of hundreds courtesy of Dr. Cullen (I did the math, he'd just tipped the waitress $85 on a $115 dollar check), and we left. On the way out the door we passed Jasper and Rose's parents coming in.

"Hi kids!" squealed Maria shrilly. We all winced. Maria meant well, but she wasn't exactly what you'd call _intelligent._

"Morning Mom" Jasper greeted her cheerfully and then, as if the temperature had suddenly dropped 50 degrees, "Morning Dad" he muttered sounding bored. I tried to catch his eye to see what was going on, but he looked away from me. We all just stood there silently for a long moment, even Rosalie seemed reluctant to get involved with her brother's apparent issue with their father. She grabbed Alice's arm and the two of them began inspecting the display in a nearby store window. When it became clear that no one else was going to say anything, feeling suddenly and inexplicably protective, I stepped in.

"Hi Peter, Maria, it's so nice to see you!" I said. Edward, Emmet, had wandered a few feet away and were hovering awkwardly. They didn't really know the twin's parents as well as I did, and definitely weren't on a first name bases with them. Alice and I on other hand had spent basically every waking hour and some not at their house since we were born. That is, until we were in middle school when they picked up and moved from our town in suburban Connecticut to move to New York. After that, we'd seen less and less of each other until eventually the only time I saw Jasper or his family was on the island.

"Oh Bella" Maria trilled, apparently not noticing anything odd "look how pretty you've gotten. Oh Peter, would you just look at her? Her father must be beating the boys away with a stick!" I felt a blush creeping across my cheeks.

"Yes, quite lovely." Peter smiled at me. "Tell your parents we hope they'll join us for dinner again tonight."

"Oh yes!" said Maria "It's absolutely no fun around here without Charles and Renee."

"I'll tell them" I promised "but you'll probably see them before I do" I forced a smile and reached over and put my hand on Jasper's arm "Well, we'd better be going" I said pointedly

"Oh, of course" Peter sounded relieved "It was nice to see you Bella." He nodded at his son, who was staring down bewilderedly at my hand on his arm, and opened the door to the restaurant. Maria gave a little wave and followed her husband inside leaving us alone.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked softly turning to face him.

"It's nothing" he muttered "come on, let's go." and for the second time since I'd been there he left me standing alone and headed off in the direction the others had gone.

**Will write for reviews! Even if you didn't like it I want to know! Also, I like writing what people want so if you have an idea let me know and maybe you'll see it in a future chapter!**


	3. Je t'aime

** A/N Hello lovelies ****, I'm back. We're getting closer and closer to some Bella/Jazz action here so get excited! It'll happen eventually I promise.**

**Now, for people who have been wondering about The Game of L.I.F.E., I actually had the second chapter all finished and ready to go, but I'm an idiot and I forgot to save and then my laptop had a meltdown and now I'm too annoyed to rewrite the whole thing. So long story short, I'll update it later this week.**

**And so we go.**

**Bella**

I woke up Sunday morning to the sun streaming through my curtains and into my sleep-filled eyes. It had rained hard the night before, but the sky had cleared in such a way that can only happen in the summer, and I felt more then compelled to go outside.

Although self inflicted exercise was never really something I put myself through, I decided to go for a run. At least then, I could enjoy the morning without feeling like an idiot for just standing in the street smelling the air. I opened my dresser and sifted through to the bottom where I kept my sweats. I pulled out a pair of black, bedazzled Victoria's Secret sweat pants and a grey sports bra and got dressed quickly without worrying too much about how I looked. I didn't think I would see anyone out this early anyway. My hair was a mess, but I didn't bother to brush through it, instead piling everything on top of my head in a messy bun and securing it with a headband since I couldn't find elastic. I grabbed my iPod and never worn Nike sneakers and sprinted out the door.

I started off slow; warming up to an easy paced Colbie Calliat song. Almost immediately I regretted this whim, but after a few minutes I hit my stride and was flying down the boardwalk at a speed that made me wish I'd remembered the pedometer my mother kept trying to make me use. There were still some puddles left over from the night before, and I made a game out of trying to jump over each of them.

After a little while I started to get cold. It was about 65 degrees out, which was warm for the morning, but it was also windy and the combination made me wish I worn a sweatshirt, or at least a shirt that covered my stomach. I passed Emmet's house without realizing it, and was about 30 yards away by the time I decided to double back.

The house was silent and Emmet's parents and grandparents were obviously still asleep. I was afraid I would wake them if I rang the doorbell so I jogged around to the side yard where I knew a spare key was hidden. I turned over a rock in the impeccable rose garden that was Emmet's mother Ellen's proudest accomplishment and tiptoed back onto the lawn, careful not to disturb a single flower. I went around to the backdoor as my heavy breathing deescalated.

I opened the door as quietly as I could and stuck the key in my pocket. It probably wouldn't be the first time Mr. and Mrs. McCarty had encountered an unexpected girl in their kitchen, but I prayed I didn't run into anyone anyway. Emmet's family's house was the biggest on the island. It even had a separate wing for his grandparents. Honestly, I have no idea what any of Emmet's family does for a living, but whatever it is; it's definitely working for them.

I didn't bother to knock when I reached Emmet's room. Partly because the noise might disturb someone else, and partly because I wanted to surprise him. When I opened the door my first thought was that the McCarty's must have fired yet another maid. Emmet's room was a disaster. There were clothes everywhere. Random sports equipment littered the floor and stuck out of the overflowing closet. The baseball bat I could understand, but I wondered why he would have hockey sticks and ice skates when we were only ever here in the summer. Empty soda cans covered the desk so that his computer was almost totally eclipsed. What looked like hundreds of dog-eared books were stalked upside-down and sideways on his ceiling high bookcase. I cringed when I noticed the half empty box of condoms on the bed side table. Emmet himself was fast asleep on his disheveled bed, wearing nothing but boxers and one bedraggled grey sock, his legs tangled in the dark red bedspread. All his pillows had somehow ended up on the floor and he was using his elbow as a substitute. I decided I would come back later and clean up, if only to save him from contracting hepatitis.

"_Damn it!"_ I squealed loudly as I waded through the ocean of clothing and stubbed my toe on a stray football helmet.

"What the hell?" Emmet exclaimed at almost the same time. I'd forgotten he was a light sleeper. "Bella, what are you doing?"

"Getting attacked by all your crap!" I complained "How can you live like this?" Disregarding this, he said:

"No, what are you doing in my room? What time is it?"

"Like 7:15." I said self-consciously.

"Arrrgg!" he wailed laying back down. "Wait, how did you get in anyway?" I pulled the key out of my pocket and held it up. "You _would_ break in using the spare key." He said it like an insult and then grinned to show he was kidding. I walked carefully across the rest of the room and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I was out running and I decided to stop and visit." I said cheerfully.

"You were running at 7:15am?" he said incredulously "What time did you start?"

"Um, like 6:30ish."

"Wow. I want some of whatever you're on!" he laughed when I punched him.

"Okay, well I guess I'm up then. Wait a minute while I get dressed." He said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Okay."

"Oh, here." He threw a folded white t-shirt at me.

"What's this for?" I asked confusedly.

"It's for you. As much as I appreciate you forgetting to put on a shirt" he grinned wickedly "I can't take you to breakfast like _that_." He said eying my sweaty sports bra and messy hair warily.

I giggled embarrassedly. "Fine, but can we not go to the Coop?"

"Why?" he said with his head inside a faded red band shirt.

"Because people know us there, and you just said I look like crap." I said exasperatedly.

"People know us everywhere." He pointed out.

"Pleeeaaseee." I whined "anywhere else."

"Fine. Give me five minutes." He said "and put that shirt on."

I laughed. "Okay, five minutes."

30 minutes later (so much for 5) we were comfortably seated outside on the patio of a Starbucks-esque café drinking huge mugs of coffee. I bounced my leg up and down under the table while I waited for the waitress to come out with our breakfasts.

"Do you think I have a chance with _her_?" Emmet whispered leaning across the table.

"Who?" I said absently. He was wearing sunglasses which made it impossible for me to tell who he was looking at.

"The hot ginger at the corner table." He jerked his head in the girl's direction. I glanced at her skeptically.

"That's Victoria James." I said quizzically "You've met her before."

"No. I'd remember _that_." He looked her up and down again.

"No you wouldn't!" I suddenly recalled. "Because _you_ dear" I tapped the back of his hand on the table affectionately "are superficial as hell, and she used to be like really fat."

"Seriously?" he said disbelievingly

"Yeah. If there was ever a success story for gastric bypass it's _that _girl." I muttered. He seemed unfazed.

"So do you think she'd go to dinner with me?" he peeked over his sunglasses at her.

"Yeah probably, but she's only 15 so in a few weeks anything other then dinner will be kind of illegal." I said.

"Not on this island" He smirked. I had to admit he had a point.

"Fine, immoral then. Robbing the cradle or whatever" I waved my hand in the air vaguely.

"True." He looked disappointed.

"Think of it this way: Pretty soon you'll be an adult and you can sleep with all the 45 year old, plastic boobed, divorcés you want." I said sarcastically. That perked him right up.

"Perfect! He said grinning "Starting with Edward's mom."

"Ewww! You need _so_ much therapy!"

"Kidding. God!" We both laughed, and then fell silent, lost in our own thoughts.

"Wait." I had just remembered something "If you're looking for a new girlfriend—"

"I am _not_" he cut me off "looking for a new girlfriend"

"Fine. If you're looking for a new _something, _does that mean you don't want Rose anymore?" It was pretty common knowledge—at least between the boys and I—that Emmet had liked Rosalie practically forever. Seriously, sometimes I really looked at our lives and thought _this is just so much harder then it needs to be! _But then, at least we were never bored.

"Can we_ please_ not talk about that?"he groaned. I had a feeling if his tanned complexion was capable of blushing he would have.

"Ohmigod! You still like her don't you?"

"No!" he snapped.

"Yes you do!" I giggled "It's like _so _obvious!"

"Hey, you want to talk about obvious?" he raised his eyebrows "What about Jazz?"

"What about him?" I said too quickly and he laughed. If he had been trying to distract me, he had done a good job.

"Come on" he rolled his eyes at me.

Although I had with every other person who'd drawn the same conclusion, I didn't even try to deny it. "Do you think he knows?" I moaned and put my head down on the table. Emmet was the brother I always wished for and never needed. He'd tell me the truth.

"No, don't worry; I think he's the only one who _doesn't_ know."

"Good." I breathed a sigh of relief. "And you won't tell him right?" I added anxiously.

"Oh, I already have." He flashed his signature evil mastermind grin.

"What!" I yelped.

"Edward and I have been telling him for years, he won't believe us."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, don't worry." He said again.

"How can I not be worried about that?" I snapped. He shrugged "well if this ends badly I'm blaming you." I warned.

"_Ends_ badly?" he scoffed "As opposed to never starting, like how it's been for the last ten years?"

"11 years," I corrected instinctively "and exactly." I blushed.

"Whatever, it's your life." He said dismissively "And meanwhile, I still have a good three weeks coming to me, so I'm going to go ask out the ginger." He stood up and started to jog away. "What was her name again?"

"Tory. Tory James." I rolled my eyes

"Perfect. Be right back."

"What about Rose?" I called after him.

"_That_ is a remote fantasy. _This_ is now!" He cried, throwing his arms in the air like a bad stage actor talking to God. "I'm living in the moment, you should try it sometime."

"Maybe I will." I muttered, and ate my breakfast quietly while I waited for him to come back.

It was Sunday night. For some reason, even in the summer, Sunday nights make me anxious. Maybe it's the end of something, or maybe it's the beginning, but the uncertainty makes me uncomfortable.

It was past 8:00pm, but the sky was still light and I was curled up in one off the wicker armchairs on my front porch reading _The Catcher in the Rye_. I shifted around and pulled my feet up under me as I was hit with a slight wind chill. I was bored. The book was one of those classics where you had to read between the lines to interpret the metaphors. I hated metaphors. Why couldn't people just say what they mean? I slammed the cover shut exasperatedly. Personally, I didn't give a shit where the ducks went.

I stared half blindly out at the darkening street. The weather beaten, Cape Cod style houses were cast in shadow from the slowly setting sun. Sand doones and rosehips grew haphazardly beside the pavement. I could hear sea gulls screeching and mourning doves crying out while the heavy air smelled of salt and wind. I suddenly became aware of the sound of steady pounding footsteps growing louder. I looked down the cottage lined street and saw Jasper rounding the corner and running towards me, shirt off, iPod strapped to his arm _Damn his abs! Why does it feel like whenever I'm around him lately he's half naked?_ I saw him before he noticed me. He made it all the way to my house and then stopped for a fraction of a second to look up at it. I waved and his eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting me to be there. He grinned.

"Hey Bells, whatcha doin'?" he called from the sidewalk.

"Pretending to read." I answered honestly. His confident laugh was infectious as he jogged up the front walk, up the steps and onto the porch.

"Ditch the book and finish my run with me." He said automatically. It seemed like a polite invitation—he didn't really care one way or another if I said yes.

"I can't, I'm not dressed for it, and I can't keep up with you anyway." _Not to mention the fact that I've already been running today and my legs are killing me._

"So go change, I'll wait." He said.

"I still won't be able to keep up with you, I'll die first." I pointed out. _Please don't make me come! My muscles will never forgive me._

"I've seen you run Bells, trust me, you could kick my ass." He lied smoothly, flashing a grin that was so sexy and coercing it looked rehearsed. I knew it wasn't though, that was just Jasper.

"How much longer do you have to go?" I asked, giving in slightly.

"Like a mile and a half. Two tops." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. "C'mon, go put on some sneakers really quick before it gets dark."

_Running twice in one day just to be with Jasper? I'm so pathetic. _"Fine, give me five minutes." I surrendered, and went upstairs to change.

**Jasper**

I glanced at the sky and swore inwardly. It was getting dark and I wasn't even half as far as I'd planed to run. There wasn't anything I could do about it now, I needed to choose a shorter route.

That wasn't hard around here, 'all roads lead to Rome' so to speak—or more like 'all roads lead to beach'. I turned on the next street I passed. _Bella's street _I realized after the fact. _Maybe I'll stop and say hi. _I thought idly. _No, then it'll be completely dark by the time I get home._

I stopped in front of her house anyway, debating weather or not to see if she was there. It took a minute before I noticed her sitting on the porch. _Weird coincidence…_

"Hey Bells, whatcha doin'?" I called.

"Pretending to read." She smiled. I laughed, honesty was always nice. I jogged up to the porch.

"Ditch the book and finish my run with me" I said suddenly, surprising myself. _Where did that come from?_

"I can't," she said "I'm not dressed for it, and I can't keep up with you anyway." She looked a little disappointed.

"So go change, I'll wait." I persisted. I hadn't planed on it, but I suddenly really wanted her to come.

"I still won't be able to keep up with you, I'll die first." She pointed out.

"I've seen you run Bells, trust me, you could kick my ass." _Liar. _ I grinned a little apologetically.

"How much longer do you have to go?" she asked. _Yes! That was definitely a surrender._

"Like a mile and a half. Two tops." I invented wildly. I wasn't really sure where we were going. I grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Her hand felt cold even though it was warm out. "C'mon, go put on some sneakers really quick before it gets dark." I told her.

"Fine, give me five minutes."

I waited on the porch while she changed. It didn't take as long as I expected. I'd been out with girls before who made me wait for half an hour while they got ready, but I guess Bella wasn't really like that. She was back downstairs in five minutes wearing Shorts and a grey 'Yale University Bulldogs' t-shirt. I heard her yell something to someone—probably Meredith because she added "Why do you care so much!"—before she came back out on the porch.

"Okay I'm ready." She looked like she was regretting the decision to come along.

"Don't worry, we can go slow." I assured her as we jogged to down her street.

"Thanks, but I think your 'slow' is my 'running for my life'" She grinned at me and I laughed. That was probably true.

"Tell you what; if we need to run for our lives I'll carry you." I promised.

"You wouldn't leave me to get chopped up by a psycho axe murderer?" She giggled.

"You? Never." I scoffed. "Edward on the other hand…"

"Edward wouldn't need you to carry him," she said "he's faster then you are."

"He's not!" I protested indignantly. "Say that again and I'll let the axe murderer get you after all." I joked as we rounded the corner on to a road that was so rough it was really more of a path, unfortunately it was actually getting really dark and this was the quickest way to the beach. Why we were going to the beach I had no idea, but it seemed like a good stopping point.  
"You wouldn't!" She gasped.

"Try me." I pretended to sulk.

"Fine, I'm sorry I said Edward was faster then you." She feigned concern.

"So you think I'm faster then him then?" I nudged her shoulder with mine.

"Oh, much faster." She said with fake sincerity.

"And an all around cooler, better looking, more awesome person?" I prompted her.

"_And _an all around cooler, better looking, more awesome person." She agreed. Hearing her say that shouldn't have made me happy, but for some reason it did.

"Hey look!" she said after about 5 minutes "We must be half way to the beach now and I'm not even tired!" she looked so proud, it was actually kind of cute. _Dude! What are you thinking? _I shook my head violently.

"That's because I'm doing an amazing job of distracting you." I grinned at her.

"Sure, sure." she smiled back. We were almost to the end of the road and I could still make out the beach at the end even though the sun was basically gone.

"Race you to the water!" Bella yelled suddenly. _What? Wait! _I sprinted after her.

Even with her head start I got to the water's edge long before she did. She ran up behind me out of breath and flung herself down in the sand.

"You know, a gentleman would have let me win." She told me from the ground.

"I never claimed to be a gentleman." I loomed over her grinning. She grabbed my hand and pulled until I sat down in the sand next to her.

"You shouldn't be so proud of that" she rolled her eyes at me. "Hey aren't you cold?" She blurted out randomly.

"What?" I was confused.

"It's getting kind of cold out here." I realized she meant because I wasn't wearing a shirt.

"No, I guess I'm just naturally warm-blooded" I shrugged.

"Of course you are, all humans are warm-blooded." She pointed out waspishly.

"I'm sorry Miss Swan, I didn't know there was going to be a test." I laughed. She scowled at me.

"Well I'm cold." She sighed.

"You're always cold." I told her. She raised her eyebrows at me and look surprised. _What, did she think it was weird that I knew that? _I held out both arms to her. "C'mere"

"No! Why?" she looked startled.

"Because you're cold and I'm not." It seemed obvious to me "You sit with Edward and Emmet." I reminded her.

"Yes, around other people and fully clothed, not alone on the beach, in the dark, when they're half naked!" she was stumbling over her words trying to seem serious. I laughed, I couldn't help it.

"What, don't you trust me?"

"Not at all." She joked.

"Smart girl." I laughed again.

Bella sighed and crawled over and sat with her back against my chest. I put my arms around her stomach. "Warmer?" _Dear god, I'm acting like such a girl._

"A bit." She said a little too nonchalantly.

"Just a bit?" I teased her.

"Okay fine. Yes, thank you." No

I suddenly realized that we were both still covered in sweat. Did she think it was gross? Should I back off until I could take a shower. _Oh Hot Damn! Bella wet in the shower._ I was being completely honest with myself, just having Bells sitting with me like this was like 10 times hotter then anything I done with a girl in living memory. And I just tapped that waitress from the Coop yesterday.

Did I like her? That wasn't possible. No, more like that wasn't even an option. There wouldn't be any no-strings sex with Bella, I'd have to _commit _or some shit_. _Buy a house, Get married someday, have kids. My life would be over before I even went to collage._ HA! _That was _not_ going to happen.

"Hey Bells, I gotta go okay?" I took my arms from around her waist and jumped up. She fell back startled that there wasn't anything there for her to lean against anymore and looked up at me with giant hurt blue eyes. "Uh, sorry." I muttered lamely and ran off the beach.

**I hope you liked it! Reviews are always appreciated! Let's try for 15 reviews before the next chapter k? Oh and remember, Game of L.I.F.E. will be up probably Wednesday.**

**Love always, Summer.**


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